A massive gamble on beef prices is playing out in the country's marts as farmers, dealers and feedlot buyers have ignored stagnant factory quotes to push the cattle trade to a new high this winter.
Another cut to all farmers' payments may be needed to secure sufficient funding for the National Reserve from 2021 onwards.
A massive gamble on beef prices is playing out in the country's marts as farmers, dealers and feedlot buyers have ignored stagnant factory quotes to push the cattle trade to a new high this winter.
Two prolific cow families, which have registered more than 700 progeny, have become the backbone of Peter Ging's Ballyclider Holstein-Friesian herd in Co Laois, one of the longest-established black-and-white herds in the region.
For the first time in 20 years, changes are being made to how the calving difficulty of a bull is calculated.
Question marks now hang over Beef Plan and the monies it raised around the country from farmers at its meetings.
ABP has joined forces with Northern Ireland dairy processor Dale Farm to entice its suppliers to breed and rear calves.
